


The Eagle, the Vulture, and the Kite

by greendotsandwords



Series: Greendots and Cyberpunks [2]
Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence, Conspiracy, Ending Fix, F/F, Female V (Cyberpunk 2077), Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Judy Alvarez/Female V - Freeform, Plot, Post-Ending, Smut, Spoilers, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:15:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29517948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greendotsandwords/pseuds/greendotsandwords
Summary: Set after Snapshots from Night City. Canon divergence at the point of Search and Destroy quest (After the Parade). Ending fix, combining the elements of several endings to then go into a post-ending story!V is running out of time, but she wants to live, because she’s found the love of her life - Judy Alvarez. She’s ready to do everything to carve a safe future for them both. That may come at a steep price, especially when she finds herself thrown into a conflict between powerful forces.
Relationships: Judy Alvarez - Relationship, Judy Alvarez / Fem V, Judy Alvarez/Female V, Judy Alvarez/V
Series: Greendots and Cyberpunks [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2168415
Comments: 27
Kudos: 65
Collections: Lizzie's Bar





	The Eagle, the Vulture, and the Kite

**Author's Note:**

> This is it! The first chapter of my ending-to-post-ending-fix fic. The first chapters will set up a bit of context.
> 
> A fair warning – this version of the ending-to-post-ending adventures will feature supernatural elements. There are no magic fixes though, everything has its price. If you don't like such themes, please refrain from reading. In my defense, there's a Cyberpunk source book about those, so it's not like I'm butchering it all (not completely, at least). Oh and all scenes that took place in [Snapshots from Night City](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28535214/chapters/69926187) is canon for this fic, too!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> V is about to go to the dreaded Aratama parade, as she's running out of options when it comes to removing the chip and saving herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to T_Tornado, Hexpresso, and Zer0Fahrenheit for helping me make this chapter better!

“D'you really have to go, V?” Judy was tapping her foot, sitting at my desk, cigarette in hand. Nibbles was in her lap and she kept stroking along his uncomfortably visible spine with her free palm.

I didn't even have to ask whether she felt nervous. I could feel the tension hanging in the air from the moment we woke up. Was thick enough to be cut with a rusty katana. I wished I didn't have to go. Could have just stayed home instead, cuddle and watch a BD together.

There was just one major problem. I was dying. As much as Judy and I could pretend to be happy living in our little bubble forever, we couldn't put it off any longer. Besides, time wasn't very kind for us, and the day of Aratama festival finally, and un-fucking-fortunately came upon us.

It was my turn to be the host and I really enjoyed having Jude over. It made my pad seem less... criminal? And more like an actual home, not just a place to reload and put my feet up. But today it just seemed like the last haven in Night City before the inevitable. It reminded me, with every moving shadow, how much I hated this constant, unrelenting feeling of being on a timer.

“I have to, Jude. Running outta options here, and I want to come back and bring you good news. Can't do that if I stay,” I sighed softly and moved to crouch in front of her, placing my hand on her knee, “Just stay in, try not to watch the news... I'll be back in no time. You'll be safe here. Remember the code to the armory?”

“0451,” Judy rolled her eyes and shrugged, “You askin' to make me even more worried?”

“No. So I'm a bit less worried,” I stood up and kissed her on the head, prompting Nibbles to jump from her lap and move to a less crowded spot in the apartment. Judy extinguished her cigarette, hitting it a few times against the bottom of the ashtray, then stood up and wrapped her arms around me tightly, “Don't die. Else I'mma have to kill you myself,” she warned me, her voice muffled against my shoulder.

“That’d be a really gonk thing to do,” I quipped while my hands found their way to Judy’s back and brought her into a tight embrace. Her scent filled my nostrils, a mix of her fruity shampoo and the almost sharp, ocean and spice aroma of her body spray, all tied together with smoke and coffee. I inhaled it deeply, as if I were a monk sitting by her favorite incense, finding comfort and understanding in it.

She always looked so vulnerable when she hugged me. Her face hidden in the crook of my neck or against my shoulder, her arms clutching onto me. And yet, I was the terminal patient here and it was her scent that reminded me to keep fighting. The fire in her hazel eyes was contagious, her determination, her every word said with conviction. Mi pimientita. My spicy pepper, as I started calling her since I became her little pumpkin.

I would have never suspected that Night City would allow anything this alive and wholesome to grow in its concrete gardens, let alone bloom… but we did. Valiantly and against the system. Evelyn would have been proud.

“Valerie, please,” it was Judy’s way of asking me to stop smirking and switch to serious mode. She moved her head from my shoulder so we could lock our gazes. If only that could fix everything.

“I will be on my best, most alert behavior, Judy. You have my word,” I reassured.

“I still don’t like it. The whole thing is on shaky legs. That ‘Saka bastard better not try anything funny,” there she was. I’d give that around three thousand Scovilles.

“Takemura is a good guy. His heart is in the right place. He's got his honor and principles. We’re an unlikely pair of partners but we work well together,” I tried to paint a picture of him as a person, more than an elite corpo bodyguard.

“Ping me every few minutes. I want to know where you are and if your biomon is up,” Judy was still negotiating.

“They could use that to trace you to me, and then the whole sich becomes a lot more unpleasant, for the both of us,” I replied and I could see her slump while she shook her head. Unimpressed, but she knew I was right.

“I hate you for doing this. The entire situation stinks and it’s more wobbly than my van on a country road,” Judy frowned again. She turned away from me and crossed her arms on her chest.

The shimmer of a rockerboy ex machina came into my periphery, sitting against the backrest of my sofa, “Well, well. Put on some popcorn and get comfortable, because this is about to get entertaining,” Johnny rested one hand on his hip and gave a knowing nod at Nibbles, who joined him on the backrest like the traitor he was. Sometimes I wondered whether that cat could just… see what most people couldn’t. This wasn’t the time to play around with Silverhand, so I decided to just be honest with Judy. Speak from the heart.

“Wish I had the luxury of picking and choosing how to get myself out of this mess, Jude. Wish I could just book a visit at Vik’s, get rid of this thing and leave the city with you, but it’s not that fuckin’ easy!” I was beginning to lose my cool, despite my best efforts. Probably walking right into where she wanted to have me. Proving her point. Not that it would stop me from trying the crazy stunt we had decided to pull off at the parade, “You told me you wanted to leave but now you’ll stay, cause of me. And you’re here, so you’re keeping that promise. Let me keep mine. Let me try to save my life for you. For us,” I tried, looking at her with a more open, hopeful expression.

Judy shook her head slowly and exhaled. I could see her frown, she turned to me, arms still crossed. The silence between us was deeply uncomfortable for a moment as I was trying to gauge whether my words did more harm than good and read her body language a bit. Her gaze was… smouldering. Something about her hazel eyes seemed less and less angry with each second.

I understood where that change was going the moment she lunged towards me and put her hands on my cheeks before leaning in to initiate a kiss. It was needy and passionate, as if she was trying to transform all the anger, uncertainty, and the feeling of dread into (im)pure lust. Our tongues met immediately, my eyelids fluttered at the intensity of it all. There was no time for gentle pecks and smooches. If I was going to be on time - and time really was a factor - we would have to take that kiss in a very particular direction.

We kept moving until we hit a wall, and Judy’s hand slid under my t-shirt with ease, her nails grazing against my abdomen, sending shivers down my spine. It was a simple gesture, but it spoke volumes. She was reminding me that dying wasn’t an option, that everything we’ve had, every night we’ve spent together so far was a promise of many more years, and a killer-parasite chip in my head would not stop us from achieving our little slice of heaven.

Speaking of, Judy was intent on sending me to Blissville post-haste, and I was truly in no position to complain. She managed to hike up my t-shirt and move my flexible bra out of the way, exposing my breasts even though I still had my jacket on. To feel how hungry she was for me, and how unapologetically she was going to sate that need made my blood run even hotter.

I didn’t just remain motionless under her touches. Grabbing a gentle, yet decisive fistful of her green and pink hair, I leaned in to pepper her neck with suckling kisses, a few of then most definitely passionate enough to leave a mark for a couple of days. She let me suckle on a bite, mere inches above her collarbone before pushing me against the wall again, so her lips could find one nipple, while her hands found the other.

What seemed like the blink of an eye later, her lips were on mine again, hungry and demanding, and her hands roamed my exposed skin, while mine worked on undoing her overalls and tugging on her shirt. We’ve had similar moments before, but never fueled by this particular reason, the dread of loss. Sometimes it was the frustrations of a long day, sometimes the fact we had to spend more time apart than we wanted.

While our tongues were busy engaging in a rather sloppy kiss, and our breasts pressing together with every small movement, we somehow synched up again and both reached inside the hem of each other’s underwear, slipping further without hesitation. Needless to say, both our bodies were more than sufficiently prepared for what was coming.

We learned a lot about what made the other tick and what to avoid in the last couple of weeks, no doubt about that. But this wasn’t about pushing buttons. It was about a burning need. The desire to forget about the world for a moment, through a reckless, almost feral act of mutual release.

Her fingers found just the right angle and tempo, but there was neither time nor intention for any teasing there. I was panting and kept my eyes closed, with my jaw tight, but I knew I couldn’t hold out much longer even if I tried. It seemed that my digits were doing a good job too, if the moans coming from Jude’s throat were anything to go by. We rocked together, partially closed, hot and sweaty, not caring for one moment about the circumstances. I was hers, she was mine, and we made that claim clear. In the heat of a moment, Jude leaned in with a whimper after her knees almost buckled and outright bit my neck, hard.

I threw my head back against the wall in a futile effort to stop my body from shaking violently as a jolt of pleasure ran throughout my body when my release hit me. I felt Judy’s powerful, inner pulse around my fingers, even though she tried to muffle the moan against my neck. I voiced my pleasure loudly enough to briefly wonder whether my neighbors would shoot me funny looks -again-.

I let the afterglow take over my body, enjoying the warmth it brought, along with a momentary relief from the near constant, relic-induced headache I’ve been living with ever since Johnny had moved in, with better and worse days along the way. I didn’t feel like standing with my back against the wall anymore, and Judy’s whimpers told me her knees were feeling a little fragile, too, so I withdrew my hand from between her legs and cuddled her close as we slumped down to the floor together, trying to catch our breaths.

“At least you’re going with a clear head,” she managed between quick inhales.

“Oh yeah, I’ll be back for more. Definitely not dying after this…” I quipped, earning a snorting laugh from my hot little pepper.

===

It really helped me keep a clear head, because when I was about to go through the door, not much later, Judy and I were appeased enough to part with a simple kiss and hope for the best. And if the worst was going to happen, well, at least shared a moment of closeness before hell had a chance to catch up with us.

When I arrived at the spot designated by Takemura, I allowed myself to take a moment to admire some of the first floats of the parade that were slowly creeping between the high rise buildings like a dizzying fog of corporate opulence. Give people enough shining light and vibrant colours and they lose their mind, easy and convenient, always has been. That night, every Arasaka-hating rat crawled out of their hole to take stills and cheer with the rest, easily entertained and distracted. Goro and I were to be wolves amongst sheep.

That’s not to say I didn’t appreciate the effort put into the parade. It was a show of force, for sure. An elaborate mask made of silk, masterfully embroidered, but draped over a rotting face, full of lesions and poking bones. Arasaka in a nutshell.

We met up and proceeded quickly, there was no time for hesitation or further delay. He called me up and guided me through the maze of ladders and tunnels. The small army of ants protecting their queen didn’t escape my attention either. There were a lot of soldiers around, security was tight, but not for a sneak-thief like me, as Takemura liked to call me.

I felt quick, light, and agile as I traversed above and sometimes through the holograms of the parade, avoiding the watchful eyes of the drones and neutralizing snipers. I had my preferred loadout on me. For melee, the katana I klepped from Saburo’s AV on that fateful night (Delamain actually kept it for me in the trunk of one of his cars, the cyber-choom) and for ranged engagements, an SMG I found on some Maelstrom gonks while helping a certain monk. Modded to spout fire like some sort of a dragon. I painted it over and let Jude add a few fishies and octopuses on it instead… I hoped it was going to be my lucky charm.

The atmosphere of the parade made me feel like a masked infiltrator, jumping from roof to roof, on her way to assassinate an Empress. A mistress of the nocturnal craft of burglary and stealth, putting patrolling ‘Saka soldiers and unsuspecting snipers into deep sleep as I stalked through the shadows. That, or it was just one too many ninja virtus that have fried my brain. I wasn’t an assassin per se, not that night. Goro and I just really wanted to talk to Her Corporate Highness, Hanako Arasaka.

Everything was going almost too well. The last step before Takemura could sneak in onto Hanako’s float was disabling the netrunner who had eyes on the whole thing and was responsible for syncing all the security. The moment I disconnected her, leaving her in a state of unconsciousness, a phantom lept on me, selling me a decent left hook that almost pushed me to the ground. Well, at least that assured me that he was indeed corporeal. Goro’s choom in the flesh.

“Fuck!” I cried out eloquently, bracing myself for combat. I read somewhere that swearing was a way to trick your brain into feeling less pain. Who knew mercs had practical uses for neuroscience and shit like that?

“V? What is going on?” Takemura’s voice was full of concern over the holo. I didn’t have time to explain.

“I warned you,” Hanako’s bodyguard growled at me, his voice distorted behind a mask, glowing in angry red. Made me think of Maelstrom, just more high-tech, sleeker, and generally more elegant, just in line with Arasaka’s design. I couldn’t really spend a lot of time musing about his tactical fashion choices, because a pair of lava red mantis blades sprang from his arms, promising a swift end to my existence if I didn’t keep my wits about me.

Times like these I regretted not going for a Kerenzikov implant, just for the sheer advantage in speed, but I wasn’t all paper to his scissors. The room was big, full of containers for some reason, half open, dark, great places to hide in or think about your move. Oda was fast and deadly, I couldn’t let him get to me. I had to keep moving. As much as my inner Bushidō-freak wanted to have an epic katana fight with him, I didn’t want to risk those red hot blades melting my precious klep-mento.

I scrambled between the containers, taking sharp turns to try and get him into my vision, just for that one precious moment that my Kiroshis needed to lock in on him and apply a quick hack to cripple his movement, then another to reset his optics. Try running now, Oda-chan. He began flailing around with his blades, like a ballet-dancer doing a solo performance in place, hit by lightning. I unloaded a mag of my smg into him, the armor took the brunt of it.

Dump the empty one, grab a new one. Jam it in, cock it, just enough time left on the quick hacks to find a safe spot while doing so. I was relatively safe from Oda’s blades but I still felt like I was dancing on the precipice of an angry volcano. It didn’t fit the whole little fantasy of jumping from roof to roof and being silent. It was way too direct.

A sharp piece of metal pierced the container I was hiding in, mere inches away from my head. I ducked and rolled away, just in time to see the second blade jam right in next to the first one. That one would have hit my skull something nasty.

“Cowardly thief! Fight with honor!” Oda taunted. He was really preaching to the wrong crowd. I could be very brave and fight like a valiant knight, but that would mean being killed by Judy. So yeah, no thanks.

Before he had time to dislodge his blades, I ran out and unloaded a second mag into him. His facemask cracked in a few spots, his previously tested body armour began to take on a more crimson shade. He was bleeding, it was now a question of time before he surrendered. Dude must have been ‘dorphed up or pumped full of some other crazy drug, because he did not seem like he was going to give up

“Your choom is here, and he’s tryna get himself killed!” I finally replied to Takemura, cursing my shaking hands as I reloaded again, “Dunno what’s up with him, but he’s just NOT going down!” I could -smell- the heat coming from Oda’s mantis blades. It made my stomach tie itself into a knot.

“V, please. Do not kill Oda. Stay your hand,” fucking honor again, this was starting to get annoying… I really wasn’t the right person to have this dispute with.

I managed to upload one more quick hack to Oda’s system, crippling him again. He still lunged towards me, moving with a lot of difficulty. He was much slower, so I took the opportunity to scramble behind him and hit him on the back of the head with the stock of my Fenrir. Brain damage still counted as alive. I hoped Takemura would appreciate that. I was panting, not in the good kind of way, and sweaty all over from the fight, the headache was going to be major that night...I was sure.

“He’s… down,” I relayed to Goro.

“Alive?” my co-conspirator asked.

“Probably… I don’t know,” I kicked Oda and a tiny whimper of pain came from him, as long as he felt it, he was still there, “He’s still making sounds, I’m not staying to give him CPR,” I shrugged, conveniently ignoring the small pool of Oda’s blood seeping into the floor.

“V… thank you. I will remember this. For now, I believe we have a problem,” Takemura confessed, “See for yourself.”

He must have been careful with words for a reason. I jacked into the netrunner’s terminal to take a look at the CCTV feed from inside Hanako’s float. She looked unconscious, Takemura was holding her. I rewound to see them talking, he wasn’t very convincing, it seemed. She wanted to call security but he stunned her. Great. That guy was a shitstorm shaman. We were toast. Arasaka wouldn’t forgive such a stunt.

“The -fuck- did you do, Goro? Are you outta your mind?” I asked while still watching the feed. He looked up and gave me a nod as if to greet me.

“I had to render Hanako-sama unconscious, but she is safe. I will take her to a safe location and send you my whereabouts. Be safe, V. Arasaka will be looking all over for us.”

“Yeah, no shit…” I removed my personal link from the terminal and scrambled back outside, tracing the path I took to get there.

I pulled my hood up and stowed my katana in a sheath and in a duffel bag. I still had Lizzie holstered underneath my jacket, in case things went even deeper into hell. This alone must have been some entry level inferno, I was pretty sure of that.

Once I got to the street level, I called up Jackie’s Arch. It was quick, and I knew I could easily outmaneuver any chase if those Arasaka SOBs tried anything. My phone chimed a few times.

Takemura: [Abandoned building on Vine street. Third floor. Room 303. Knock four times. FOUR TIMES!”]

V: [Omw]

Takemura: [I cannot stress how important it is! Knock four times, V!]

V: [YES FOUR TIMES]

I really didn’t have time for Uncle Goro and his technological adventures. One time he tried to message me about ‘Good yakitori night city’ instead of typing that into the search engine… At least he was somewhere relatively safe.

I decided to call Judy, maybe I was jinxing it, but at least I’d be able to hear her one last time. She picked up almost immediately.

“V? Are you coming back home? News have jus’ exploded about the ‘Saka woman?” She sounded equal parts afraid and confused. It was much better than hearing her anger.

“Well, err, not just yet. There’s been a development,” I cleared my throat and shook my head. She wasn’t going to buy it, she wasn’t going to believe any excuse other than the truth.

“Goro took her with him,” I sighed. Judy’s eyebrows immediately shot up.

“Shit. Fuck, V. Guy’s got a deathwish, I guess,” she shrugged, reminding me just how little he meant to her as an ‘Arasaka lapdog’ as she called him.

“Look, I have to talk to her… I’m going there,” I nodded. My jaw was starting to hurt from Oda’s punch. I needed some ice on that.

“I know you are, but I can’t stop you. But at least… at least let me stay on holo. Please. Don’t have to say anything. I just need to know you’re there,” Judy bargained. The Arasaka netrunner was napping, not to say that they didn’t have more, but they couldn’t trace me at the parade, so why not? If it meant she worried a bit less…

“Kay, but no image. And if you hear me talk, it might not be to you,” I switched to audio-only before Judy could change my mind with a frown.

“Fine…” I could hear her sigh, then I picked up an unmistakable click of a lighter and a puff of a smoke.

“Shouldn’t light up so often,” I said to her, passing streetlights on my way to Heywood.

“Shouldn’t kidnap the Queen of Saka,” she quipped, “Not sure which one is more deadly.”

“I guess we make a good pair, then,” I tried to lighten up the situation. There were still a few minutes before I’d get to Vine Street, there was no use moping about life if I had my lovely output to keep me company.

She snorted and exhaled another puff of smoke audibly, “You’ll be the death of me if you keep it up with the crazy plans, V.”

“I really want to retire once this whole chip business is over. Maybe we could even go up to Oregon to your grandparents. Try this whole cottagecore thing instead,” I suggested.

“Jeez, you really let your mind wander sometimes. Eyes on the corpo-prize, V. I’m gonna hang up on you if you keep talking outta your ass like that. Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” there was a tinge of uncertainty in her voice. It was a healthy reminder that the chip wasn’t out of my head yet, and still causing a lot of trouble there.

“Yes, ma’am. Almost there. Gotta knock four times.”

“Four times? More cloak and dagger? Judy asked.

“Goro lives and breathes that vibe,” I shook my head, “Need to be quiet now. Mwah,” I made the sound of an exaggerated kiss and parked the bike around the corner. Judy reciprocated, making me smile.

Takemura wasn’t kidding when he said the place was abandoned. The building he sent me the coordinates to was derelict and eerily silent. Not a single muffled hum of a screen, no conversation, not even a bum sleeping in a corner, covered in cardboard. Just the sound of my own reinforced boots and my heart thumping in my chest. I was never particularly religious, but I felt like I was in a purgatory of sorts. A plane of existence suspended between the real and whatever happens after death. It was uncanny.

“V…?” Judy whispered from her end of the holo, reminding me that I was still alive.

“Yeah, I’m here. This place is so fucking creepy, Jude…” I replied, my throat felt dry.

“Okay, okay… Just checkin’, mi calabacita,” she said softly. It made me smile. Just a few words from her brought me so much comfort.

I climbed up a few flights of stairs and found room 303. Four knocks and an eternity of a tense silence later, Takemura opened up, briefly pointing a shotgun at my chest, “V, you’re here. Good,” he invited me in with a nod.

“I took the liberty of offering her tea. She respectfully declined,” I shot him an unimpressed look. For a moment I wondered how a guy like him made it so far and so high up in the world and still managed to survive. Never knew a sense of decorum kept bullets away.

“I feared they had caught you,” he said, visibly relieved as he lowered his gun and gave my shoulder a quick squeeze. Uncle Goro struck again.

“They certainly tried, but I’m too sneaky for that,” I shrugged, “You sure this place is safe? Especially for the most famous missing person in the world to hang out in?”

“It should be, for now,” he looked around, wrinkling his nose, then turned to me and gestured to follow him, “Please tell Hanako-sama everything that happened at Konpeki Plaza. No embellishments.”

The place was spartan. A single candle lit up the small table and two chairs on either side. Hanako Arasaka, the heart of the megacorp, Saburo’s beloved daughter, calm, poised and dignified, in her red dress and golden accents, sat in her chair, watching me like a viper ready to strike. Were it not for the movement of her eyes, I would have suspected her face was made of marble. I wondered if any of my words could crack it, maybe even reveal a person underneath.

“Hanako-sama…” I sat down and spoke after briefly inclining my head. After all, ‘When in Rome…’. She barely graced me with a glance in response, “I was at Konpeki Plaza the night your father was murdered. I saw him die. It was at the hands of your brother. Quite literally.

“You must be mad to think I would listen to such nonsense,” her response was haughty and cold. I was a one eddie rubber ball bouncing off that marble floor. It was time to get the facts out there.

“The chip your brother stole, it’s in my head now. Killing me. The personality construct, the engram from the Rlic, it started overwriting me after I took a bullet to the head,” I summarized and I could tell that my words piqued her interest. If the hearsay was anything to be believed, Hanako was cerebral enough to understand most of the R&D done at Arasaka, so perhaps learning that the chip worked and that the prototype could be used wasn’t a complete trifle for the Empress. And yet, she remained silent.

“Hanako-sama, V is living proof of the terrible crime your brother committed!” Takemura decided to try and help my case, “We can confirm every word she says if you agree to help her with the Relic.

Again, the dead silence. Almost as if she was playing for time. The building complex must have had the reputation of being haunted… I perked up and gasped when a sudden, metallic sound rang out, just in the corridor outside our door. I looked at Goro. Either the building wasn’t abandoned, or we were about to get in deep shit.

“Go, check it out,” he nodded at the door and picked up his gun before positioning himself to shield Hanako with his own body. What a gentleman.

I slowly approached the door, Fenrir out. I looked around, and mere moments later, I heard glass shattering behind me as Arasaka troops stormed the room. Fucking gonks started to shoot, even though Hanako was there. I only had time to shield myself before a flashbang went off. I saw the massive borg carry Hanako off into an AV. Looked like Smasher, and the moment I registered that, I could hear Johnny yell a chain of swearwords in my head.

Moments later, I lost the ground beneath my feet in a deafening boom. I removed a few bricks from myself and rolled away from a pipe that looked like it was steaming. Was I still alive? The pain in my back claimed that was indeed the case.

“Come on, V. Delta the fuck out of here if you want to live…” Johnny stood in a dimly lit doorway, beckoning me to follow.

“V…? V! Are you there?! V, what the fuck happened?!” Judy demanded over the holo.

“Fuck…” I managed. I guess that calmed her down enough, “Yeah…”

Takemura was still there… somewhere. I glanced at the nearest door. This was way below 303… I had to go back to help him. He didn’t have a chance on his own. Even with his fucking decorum protecting him.

I began to make my way through the building. There was smoke everywhere, red light from the glow sticks, shadows moving against the walls as fires broke out. I guess the luxury stay in the purgatory got knocked down a few levels. It was time to screw a silencer on the Fenrir and do this my way.

Arasaka guards patrolled the halls in groups or two or three. It was easy enough. Quick hack one of them, mag dump on the other. The remaining one was free game, sometimes confused enough to turn around and let themselves get captured and choked out.

I knew I was bleeding...somewhere, and my vision was swimming, but I wasn’t going to leave Takemura alone. Not after everything we’ve been through, not after all this planning and preparation. Her own people tried to shoot her, if that wasn’t going to convince the woman, nothing else would. I needed Goro alive to keep me from choking her if I ever had a chance to talk to her again. I climbed my way up to the unlucky apartment through a hole that used to be its floor, groaning as I tore my shirt and a bit of skin along with it on a jagged pipe. I was going to have to pay up at Vik’s…

Two ‘Saka warriors were standing over a kneeling, bound Goro, aiming a gun at him.

“To see how low you’ve stooped, traitor…” One of them said, disdain dripping from his voice.

“...Traitor.” the second added, just to make the entire scene more dramatic. And for once, I was glad that corporate theatrics were a thing, because it gave me enough time to quickhack their weapons and shoot them from my position behind their back.

“V?! Why did you… Now we’re both dead!” Takemura looked at me in pure disbelief.

“Honor amongst thieves,” I quipped and rushed to untie him.

“I am no thief.”

“Dude, you stole Hanako Arasaka,” I reminded him and handed him a gun. He almost caved under its weight. His formerly white shirt was turning into fashionable crimson, his face was a mess, too. Our situation did not look good.

He smiled weakly at my words, “I… I suppose you have a point.”

I could still hear a few Arasaka soldiers in the building, but with a bit of wit and two guns… maybe we could still make it.

“Judy…” I breathed out, “Jude, are you still there?” If I had been in better shape, I wouldn’t have dared, but the options we had were… few to none.

“V…? You don’t sound okay. I was keepin’ quiet but…” she replied, too concerned to try and hide it behind a mask of confidence.

“Need your help,” I replied, “Goro’s wounded, I’m a bit beat up, too. Need exfil. Really sketchy building on Vine Street. On fire and has Arasaka goons running away from it,” I gave her directions, then pinged her my location over the holo.

“Jeez holy fuck, V. Delta outta that building, be there as soon as I can,” she said and I could hear her move in a rush over the holo, “Don’t hang up on me.”

“I won’t,” I promised. Relief washed over me. Cavalry was coming. At that moment, I felt scared enough to swallow my pride and ask for help. I didn’t think about endangering Judy. I trusted her to save my butt, since I was unsure about the possibility of making it to any ripperdoc without assistance. Besides, after Takemura drove me away from that landfill, I still kinda owed him big time.

Goro was fading on me, so I gave him a second wind with a MaxDoc safely stowed in my pocket. He inhaled sharply and coughed a few times, his eyes tearing up. Not the greatest sign, but better than dropping unconscious and flatlining. I jabbed the second MaxDoc into my own abdomen, I’d have to hold for now, but the thing didn’t magically remove bullets or repair organs. Unfortunately.

The painkillers in the emergency syringes sobered us up enough to help us cut down through the rest of the soldiers in the building. There were plenty of corners to hide behind, and it seemed like the earlier explosion caused confusion in their ranks, too, and some of them were considered collateral damage in that operation.

Saburo Arasaka’s former personal bodyguard and a thief who stole the Relic from Konpeki were a good team, if I had to say so myself, so when we stumbled out of the building, I felt relieved. And in dire need of medical assistance, as I could now see blood dripping onto the pavement in the harsh streetlights of Night City.

There were a few Arasaka vans outside, but no firing squad, fortunately for Goro and myself. I carried him down the couple of stairs to the street level and heard the engine of the Sea Dragon revving up as Judy backed up, stopping a foot or two in front of us. She got out, pistol in hand, and opened up the back door. I could see her pained expression the moment she glanced at me.

“It is… a pleasure…” Takemura began, bowing his head at my output.

I opened my mouth but she shook her head, “Get in, we gotta delta,” I couldn’t agree more. We loaded Goro into the back, careful not to have him bleed all over the spare equipment she had there. I climbed back with him, as if I were a Trauma Team medic. Judy threw me a basic MaxDoc, “For an emergency,” she said and closed the back door with a thud. She was pissed off on one hand, I could tell, but I was still alive, so she couldn’t be completely mad at me…

Judy got back behind the wheel and I looked into the rear view mirror, trying to meet her gaze. After a moment she raised her brows.

“I got an idea,” she hummed and stepped on the gas. Goro was muttering something in Japanese, my passive translator had trouble deciphering it, it was too unintelligible.

“Where to?” I asked, looking up again. The space was limited, so Takemura’s head was in my lap. Some professional medical help, right there.

“The lakeside cabin. No one ever goes there, it’s safe,” Judy decided rushing through the streets, putting our stomachs to a collective test. It wasn’t multiple choice. It was do or die.

“Are there any rippers around there?”

“No, but we can dump him in the water for all I care,” Judy shrugged, “He’s still a corp. What if he snitched? What if it was a setup to get you?”

“Judy, for fuck’s sake… he’s dying. He took me to Vik when I was dying on that landfill!” my jaw tightened and I let myself raise my voice. I just don’t owe it to him. We both do,” I reminded her.

The brakes screeched and the Sea Dragon came to an abrupt stop. A spare BD wreath hit me in the nose, opening a small cut.

“Fine,” Judy sighed, but the look she shot Goro was frosty, “I don’t believe him, but I believe you, V. So it better be worth it,” she said, frowning, “Where else can we go?”

“The Aldecaldos camp. Out in the Badlands. They happen to owe me one,” I said after a moment of consideration.

Judy’s eyebrows shot up again, her eyes briefly shone in blue and she resumed the drive after I pinged her the location, “Aldecaldos, huh? Damn, nomads taking on Arasaka, that’d be wild.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it...for now please… Jude, drive?” I groaned in pain, the van accelerated as she pressed down the pedal.

“Santiago knew how to do it. They will too,” Johnny decided, chiming in from the passenger seat.


End file.
